The Point

The Point, July 17, 2023: Swimming reopens after sinkhole forms in spring

By WUFT News,

WUFT News

Published July 17, 2023 at 12:00 PM EDT

Subscribe to The Point, arriving in your inbox Monday through Friday at 8 a.m.

The stories near you

• First Coast News: Swimming reopens at Blue Spring State Park. "Around 2 p.m. Saturday, the spring head at the park collapsed due to a sinkhole. The water turned brown, with silt and sediment flooding the water."

• Ocala Gazette: Marciano will be Ocala’s next mayor, and Dreyer will remain on city council. "Only one person, Ben Marciano, filed to run for mayor. Kent Guinn, who has served as the city’s mayor for 12 years, had announced in April that he would not be seeking reelection."

• Mainstreet Daily News: Airplane makes emergency landing on I-10. "A Cessna airplane made a successful emergency landing on I-10 Friday afternoon and subsequently took off with assistance from multiple state agencies."

• Ocala Gazette: Rabies alert issued for parts of Marion County. "The Florida Department of Health in Marion County (DOH-Marion) has issued a rabies alert after three raccoons have tested positive for rabies."

• Florida Storms: Subtropical Don formed in the Atlantic early on Friday. No land impacts expected. "Don is the fourth named storm of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season, and the fifth storm for the season as a total."

• The Alligator: Game day parking app launched mid-July. "The app offers local residents and businesses the opportunity to monetize their available parking spaces on game days."

Today's sponsored message

Around the state

• News Service of Florida: ‘Completely perverted the intent’: Sponsor of Florida’s presidential search shield law critiques universities’ approach. "The measure, signed by Gov. Ron DeSantis, created a seismic shift in the way colleges and universities can conduct searches for new leaders. The changes came as nearly half of Florida’s universities were seeking new presidents."

• WFSU-Tallahassee: Military historian sheds light on Florida Guard, says there's a "concerning" past to state militias. "More than 100 Floridians recently walked across the stage at Camp Blanding, signifying their completion of the state’s newly revived State Guard boot camp. That’s something Florida has not seen since the 1940s."

• Inside Climate News: DeSantis promised in 2018 that he would clean up Florida’s toxic algae. The algae are still blooming. "With the state’s waterways swollen and stressed since Hurricane Ian, widespread outbreaks are feared again this summer."

• News Service of Florida: Florida election crimes office issues nearly 1,500 referrals in its first year. "The office has drawn opposition from Democrats, who have contended it is an attempt to intimidate minority voters."

• WFTS-Tampa Bay: Crisis Center of Tampa Bay sees 215% increase in calls since Suicide & Crisis Lifeline changes number to 988. "'I think I'm still overwhelmed at the response that we have seen. A year ago, we had taken a little over 3,000 calls from July of 2021 to July of 2022. Fast forward this a year, and we have taken in over 9,500 calls,' Clara Reynolds, President and CEO of the Crisis Center, said."

• Jacksonville Today: Times-Union discrimination agreement holds national implications. "The Jacksonville settlement highlighted HUD’s efforts across the country to combat housing discrimination at a time when people already struggle to find affordable living arrangements. It also was praised for its potential to curtail discriminatory advertising in dozens of cities, given Gannett’s vast reach in news markets."

• Associated Press: Disney is asking a judge to toss a lawsuit from DeSantis appointees. "Disney and DeSantis have been engaged in a yearlong feud that the governor has touted during his run for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination, often accusing the entertainment giant as being too 'woke.' Disney has accused the governor of violating its free speech rights."